Once Yao Ming was lost for the season, a small team became smaller up front. Brad Miller, Chuck Hayes, Jordan Hill, Shane Battier and Luis Scola are usually overmatched.

D

If the big men are small, the backcourt is Lilliputian with Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry. Kevin Martin can fill it up, but plays tiny on defense. They're all about running and scoring.

C

They lack size to defend at the rim and the guards don't do nearly a good enough job of stopping penetration into the paint. These days they're mostly about outscoring opponents.

D

Courtney Lee can defend on the wing and knock down the 3-point shot. Chase Budinger shoots always and rarely defends. Jordan Hill is often a roll of the dice.

C-

It's positively amazing that Rick Adelman's head hasn't exploded from all of the injuries he's had to deal with in Houston. But he usually keeps the Rockets resilient regardless.

B

D+

Summary

It wasn't so long ago when the Rockets were a 50-win team built around a pair of All-Stars in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady that viewed itself as a dark horse contender in the West. Now those days are only a memory.

When an MRI on Dec. 17 revealed that Yao had another fracture in his left foot, the Rockets saw another hopeful season go up in smoke and now the goal is to avoid winding up in the lottery for the third time in four years.

Adelman has kept them inspired and hustling and sharing the ball. The Rockets ran second in the league in assists per game and on the nights when they knocking down shots can play with and beat anybody. The evidence was taking down the Celtics in Boston.

Their lack of overall size is a glaring weakness and though they like to say they have talent up and down the roster, it's roughly the same -- good, decent, but lacking a real star. Since the first of the year they have completely cratered (2-7).